The Uhlich Children's Advantage Network ( UCAN ) and Howard Brown's Broadway Youth Center ( BYC ) are launching an effort to find housing for homeless LGBTQ youth in the Chicago area.The campaign, called the LGBTQ Host Home Program, aims to identify adults who will provide housing to youth as they attempt to transition toward models of more stable and sustainable living.
Over the next couple of months, representatives of the Host Home program will hold community meetings throughout Chicago—on the South Side, the North Side and in Oak Park—in order to recruit adults who might be interested in opening their homes to LGBTQ youth. Following the meetings, adults will go through a 32-hour training in harm reduction, child development, anti-oppression and other skills they might need to house street-based youth.
In addition to the training, adults interested in the program are asked to have an extra bedroom in their house, be over the age of 25, provide references and be willing to undergo a criminal background check.
Though the program is tailored specifically to the needs of LGBTQ youth, UCAN's Laura Angelucci stressed that everybody—LGBTQ adults as well as heterosexual allies—is encouraged to consider supporting the program. "We're making it clear who these kids are," she said, adding that a queer identity is just one challenging factor among myriad—including drug use and mental-health issues—that the program aims to address.
"It's their path," Angelucci said. " [ We're ] trying to help them overcome the sort of obstacles that they're facing that put them on the street."
According to Angelucci, UCAN's vice president of administration, the idea for the program belonged to Bonnie Wade, who is now the associate director of the Host Home program. Angelucci said that though various social service providers have developed similar programs—UCAN itself has a variety of programs tailored to people of various ages interested in independent or transitional living—one with a focus on queer youth is rare. "It's never been done in Illinois," she said.
Angelucci said that youth will be recruited through BYC's drop-in services, and through agreements UCAN has reached with organizations like the Center on Halsted. The program is being run jointly with Howard Brown and BYC, a collaborative effort that Angelucci called "critical to our success."
Both venues, she acknowledged, see a lot of the same kids. In an interview with Windy City Times several months ago, Center on Halsted Executive Director Modesto "Tico" Valle noted the glaring problems of homelessness he sees every day as he gets to work: "When I pull into the garage here in the morning at seven o'clock, there's ten homeless kids waiting. They spend practically the day here, and then they sleep on the streets, and we start the day over again."
"I don't think there's going to be a lack of potential clients," Angelucci said. She said that the program asks that the youth make some commitment to "wanting to get back on their feet."
"They need to make a commitment to walk away from street life," she said. "They're really kind of leading the charge, because it is their life."
Once youth have been matched to homes, program administrators work with the kids to develop what Angelucci called a "game plan," which includes a timeline "based on the needs of the youth" that anticipates how long they'll spent in their host homes. "You have a window [ of time ] with some of these things," she said, "and you need to be able to hit your window."
In terms of the relationship between the youth and the people who will be housing them. Angelucci said, "it's about building relationships." She acknowledged that no matter the circumstances, living with people is "not easy." UCAN's role, she said, is to "be as supportive as we can."
"I don't want anyone thinking we're going to cure homelessness," Angelucci said. "We're in no way claiming to have the answer." Instead, she said, "we're excited that [ this program is ] going to be part of a larger solution.
"It's going to be a lot of work," she said," but it's going to be fun."
Community meetings are scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 6, 6-8 p.m., at Gallery Guichard, 3521 S. Martin Luther King; Thursday, Oct. 8, 6-8 p.m., at Las Manos Gallery, 5220 N. Clark; and Tuesday, Oct. 13, 6-8 p.m., at a private home in Oak Park. Contact Bonnie Wade at wadeb@ucanchicago.org or 312-738-5966 for more information.
